eBay employees sent insects and spiders for several months to a couple who were publicly critical of the company. The company was condemned by the American courts.
On January 11, 2024, the American justice system sentenced the famous online sales company eBay to a fine of three million dollars for a harassment campaign. On the menu: cockroaches, spiders, fetal pigs, funeral wreaths, all sent by American mail to a couple who criticized society. David and Ina Steiner ran a consumer newsletter, in which they repeatedly criticized eBay. Half an hour after the article was published, then-eBay CEO Devin Wenig sent another senior executive a message saying, “ If you ever have to take it down…now is the time ”, according to court documents.
The threat was taken seriously by employees, who launched a campaign of intimidation. In addition to the numerous insects and arachnids sent to the couple’s home, they hosted parties on the website Craigslist, inviting many people to sexual encounters at their home. Former eBay security director Jim Baugh and his associates also installed a GPS tracking device on the couple’s car.
Ina Steiner has received strange messages on Twitter, as well as dozens of letters from support groups for irritable bowel syndrome patients, as well as the Communist Party USA.
Series of convictions at eBay
In 2021, eBay employee Philip Cooke was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The following year, Jim Baugh was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. Devin Wenig, who left office in 2019, has not been charged in the case and denies knowledge of the harassment campaign.
eBay was ultimately charged with multiple counts of stalking via electronic communications services, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. In addition to paying the fine, the group is required to retain the services of an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years. The company said in a Jan. 11 news release that it takes responsibility for the former employees’ misconduct. “ The company’s conduct in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible said Jamie Iannone, CEO of eBay, in the release.
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